Thinks
by Lauralogan80
Summary: Too many ideas...Helga agrees to helping out someone, who came up with the idea to help her make Arnold jealous. Helga's not interested in the making Arnold jealous plot, but Arnold thinks that's what she's up to. Here come headaches...
1. Chapter 1

…...

…...

Helga stormed through the empty school hallway to her classroom, threw the door open, causing a loud bang that made her homeroom teacher jump, scowled at the room then marched to her desk and sat down. Everyone shifted in their seats nervously. Helga. G Pataki was in a mood. Which meant everyone was going to cop it at some point today.

Phoebe glanced nervously over at her friend. Of late, Helga had been coming to class reasonably happy. But for one week of every month she was a monster. To. Everyone.

Especially to Arnold.

Arnold himself was sitting in his seat contemplating putting a helmet on his head, but decided against it. He knew the teacher would just tell him to take it off. He looked back at Helga, who just stared straight ahead, scowling. Then she shook her head, and started tapping her pencil. The whole room had gone quiet when Helga had walked in, and now no one dared to make a sound.

Even the teacher picked up on the tension in the room. She did her duties then sat down and watched as everyone took out their homework and quickly finished what they needed to finish. Phoebe got up and went over to Helga.

"Is everything okay?" she asked.

"Olga."

"Oh. What did she do?"

"She woke up this morning," Helga said, grinding her teeth.

"That's ever so mean to say, Helga," Lila said, turning and frowning at Helga.

"Shut it, Pippy," Helga snapped.

Lila shook her head, and went back to her math homework. When Helga was nice, she could be really nice. But when she was a bitch, watch out.

"Helga, Lila didn't do anything," Phoebe lectured. "You should say sorry."

"No."

Just then the bell rang, and Helga was the first out of her seat and out the door. She had art, and couldn't wait to get there. They were working with clay today, and she couldn't wait to pound the heck out of it. She shoved past her classmates, including Arnold, and was gone. There were sighs all over the room, held in breaths finally being released.

…...

…...

"Heads up, toad-breath!" Wolfgang called out, throwing the football to Ludwig. Instead of sailing into his friends hands though, it hit a big guy, with a letterman jacket who turned to glare. Wolfgang swallowed hard, and started praying in his head.

Torvald.

He picked the ball up in his hands and glared at Wolfgang. Then he popped it with his bare hands and started to stalk over to him.

"Oh, shit," Wolfgang muttered, looking around him. Torvald was bigger than him by a head.

"Outta my way!" he heard a feminine voice yelling out behind him, and then felt a hand shove him forward, right into Torvald's arms.

"What do you say?" Torvald demanded.

"I'm sorry man," Wolfgang whimpered. Torvald growled and pushed him into the lockers with a bang.

"Watch your step, dog," Torvald said threateningly, then turned to push past a tall, slender blonde.

"Hey, ladies first!" she snapped at him, whacking a hand back into his chest, before continuing ahead of him.

Wolfgang hissed in a deep breath along with everyone else in the hallway.

"Jesus, Pataki, you got a death wish or something?"

…...

…...

"Ugh! Should have just gone with stale bread and shaving foam," Helga muttered, poking her lunch with a fork. "I can't wait til we can get out of this place for lunch."

"Hey, Helga," Patty said, sitting down next to her.

"Hey," she said, continuing to glare at her food.

"Heard you had a run in with Torvald this morning," she mentioned casually, taking a bite from her sandwich.

"What? When?" Helga demanded. Holy crap! Had she really? Oh, man. One problem she had realised too late about being "one of the boys" is that they will treat you just like one of them.

"Apparently you shoved him, or at least that's what's going around," Patty sighed, placing her sandwich on the paper. "I can't help you with this one, babe."

"UGH! My life sucks!" Helga yelled. Phoebe's eyes went wide all of a sudden. Patty looked behind her and paled a bit, but Helga continued her rant.

"First, Olga was bugging me, then I have to watch Legs Eleven and Football Head suck face at my locker, then the lock in the girls bathroom stall falls off trapping me in the damn thing, I've lost my History book, and now apparently I've shoved the biggest, baddest guy in school who's probably gonna squesh me like a bug, because no one seems to notice that I do, indeed, have breasts. D cups even!"

Helga heard a snort behind her, and turned to see a torso. Looking up she saw Torvald staring down at her.

"Helga Pataki?" he asked.

"Man, Helga's gonna get it now," she heard Sid say. The whole lunchroom had gone quiet.

"I want to have a word with you," he said quietly.

"Can you at least leave my face alone?" she begged.

Torvald just smiled and walked away.

"I love you guys," Helga said, reaching over the table and giving Phoebe a hug, then turning and giving Patty one too. "It's been great, and you both have been awesome friends."

Then she got up and walked out of the lunchroom. Torvald held the door open for her, and she cast one last look at her friends before the door closed.

"I'm really sorry I hit you, or shoved you, or whatever," she started groveling.

"I don't care about that," he said.

She followed him into a classroom, and resisted the urge to start crying. He leaned in close.

"I don't hit girls. Especially ones with D cups."

Helga turned red as Torvald laughed.

"Oh, god!" Helga cried. "Can my day get any worse?"

"Thought it just got better. I said I'm not gonna hit you. You didn't deliberately do it. We all have our bad days," he said.

"So what is it then?" she asked.

"I need some help with English, and everyone says you," he said, shrugging. "Even my teacher. You have a teacher of seniors recommending you. And I've heard rumors you do work at the local college."

"I don't work there," Helga said. "I study there."

"Really?" Torvald asked, awed.

Helga nodded.

"See, this is why you would be perfect. I need to get my grades up. I know I can get a scholorship, but the place I really want to get into, with the best wrestling and Football team, also takes your grades into account, and mine suck at the moment," he explained.

"What's in it for me?" she demanded.

"I'll pretend to be your boyfriend so you can make that weird headed kid jealous," he replied, shrugging.

Helga's mouth dropped open.

"What? I don't-"

"It's the worst kept secret in the school," Torvald told her, laughing. "Everyone knows, but him."

Helga put her face in her hands. How humiliating. Everyone knew of her unrequited love for Arnold.

"What are you? Five?" she demanded. "That's so juvenile!"

"Alright, alright, but you'd be helping me out as well," he said, rolling his eyes. "My cousin's wedding is coming up and my mother is starting to "worry about me", because I don't have a girlfriend. If I have a girlfriend, and a date to my cousins wedding, she'll back down."

"I'm four years younger than you," Helga pointed out.

"My dad was my mothers college professor. He had fourteen years on her," he told her.

"Had?" Helga asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He passed away," he told her. "He's the only reason I'm sticking around to graduate. My old friends and cousins. None of them are going to graduate or make anything of themselves, those that aren't already in prison," he explained. "But I want to be better than that. Which is why I need your help."

Helga chewed her lip. She doubted it would work in making Arnold jealous. The one time she had tried that, when she was nine with Stinky, it hadn't worked out. And Helga had actually grown fond of Stinky, though she'd never admit it out loud. At a party where he got wasted, he admitted she was his first heartbreak. She'd told him he was a great boyfriend, and deserved better than her. It had ended in a slap though as he went to kiss her. No one had witnessed the debacle that followed, though Arnold had demanded what had happened because he had found Stinky crying again, with a hand mark on his face.

"None of your god-damned business," she'd snapped at him. He'd shook his head and walked away.

Helga then found that she had somehow gained a reputation as a heart-breaker, Brainy and Stinky top of the list, with even Harold on it. It was, however, a great subject for Gerald and Helga to bond over, much to Phoebe's delight. Gerald and Helga always made jokes about it, and once when Arnold a scolded them for it, Gerald of all people had told him to "lighten up".

"Alright," she agreed. "Why not?"

"Great. I have Football practice after school-"

"I can meet you there," she said.

"You sure you don't mind waiting around?"

"Are you kidding? I'm getting to watch football!" she said. "Not a complaint will come out of this mouth about that."

…...

…...

"Wilikers, Helga, your in one piece!" Stinky cried out, seeing her walk into the room. Everyone stopped their conversations and turned to look.

"Yes I am," she said, taking her seat.

"What happened?" Sid asked.

"I'm helping him with some stuff," she said. "Nothing too important."

"What kind of stuff?" Arnold asked behind her.

"Stuff that doesn't concern you," she snapped. She didn't think Torvald would approve of her blabbing about it all.

The rest of the day went with people staring at her, and wondering why she wasn't dead, or at least upset. If anything her mood seemed to have improved.

After school she went to watch the football team practice, and saw Arnold sitting on the bleachers.

"Shouldn't you be practicing?" she asked.

Arnold shook his head.

"Coach is out, so we decided to skip it," he told her. "Sitting?"

She sat down next to him, tucking her skirt in.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, looking towards the field where the cheerleaders were practicing. Helga looked over to see Miss Legs Eleven, otherwise known as Annie Stevens, flying into the air. Annie reminded Helga of Lila, which she guessed was the other reason she didn't like the girl. Something about her niceness just never seemed sincere, but like most people, Arnold was sucked in. Helga sighed. He was such a moron. Why did she love him?

"Waiting for Torvald to finish," she said.

"Torvald?" he asked, looking shocked, then concerned, then confused. "Why are you waiting for him?"

"He has a chance to get into a really good college on a scholorship, but he needs to keep his grades up as well," Helga told him. "I'm gonna help him with the grades side of things."

"You?" Arnold asked. "This is college entrance stuff right?"

"Yeah."

"And your gonna help him?" Arnold asked incredulous.

Something about the tone of voice he used made Helga bristle. If she'd been a cat her hair would be sticking up and she'd be hissing.

"Yes, Arnold. I am. I study at the community college already, so I know what he's going to be coming up against," she told him.

"What do you study?" Arnold asked, disbelieving her. She could tell by the smile on his face that he thought he as just humouring her.

"English and Arts," she said.

"Oh, okay," he said, looking away.

Helga looked over at him. They hadn't really spoken in a while. Every now and then, but they were always in a crowd. Now that they were alone, she actually found him a bit of a dick.

"Yeah. You want the professors name and class? I got Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Starts at six, finishes at ten. Two hours each class," she told him.

"No, it's cool," he said dismissively. he smiled at her.

"You're a dick," she said, and got up and walked away.

"Whatever you say, Helga!"

Helga didn't say anything back like she usually did, just flipped him off. Arnold was surprised. Usually she said something back. He must have really upset her. He frowned. He hadn't meant to. He was just giving her a hard time.

Despite appearances, he wasn't ignorant to her feelings. He knew how she felt, still felt, and he admitted it flattered him that someone as strong as Helga had a soft spot for him. He also knew that was why he got away with as much as he did when it came to hassling her. And he often used it to his advantage at times as well. Not badly, but just to get his way every now and then. Sometimes it was all anyone could do to get Helga to yield to someone else's ideas now and then.

Instead he watched her take a seat, looking away as the wind blew her skirt up enough for him to see the colour of her panties. He smiled and could feel his cheeks warm. She had nice legs. Helga had definitely come into her own. Even Rhonda conceded that Helga looked good in anything. At a pool party Helga had worn a string bikini on a dare, and had pulled it off so well, she hadn't had to lift a finger all night. Guys were bringing her drinks and flirting with her. She laughed and flirted back, enjoying the attention from the guys. Even some of the seniors fawned over her. Helga was an athletic girl, so she was toned and shapely at the same time. Plus, with the plucking of her one eyebrow, and relenting to the use of make-up at Rhonda's insistance, she was a for-runner for most gorgeous girl in school.

But she was just too moody and unpredictable for Arnold. He never knew from one day to the next what mood she would be in, and it drove him insane trying to keep up. Eventually he just gave up, threw his hands in the air and said "fuck it!" and they barely spoke now.

Then High School started and he met Annie. She was nice, even-tempered, and he knew where he stood with her from the start. She was uncomplicated, came from a nice normal family, and it was great.

Really it was.

…

…

Helga sat brooding, watching the boys on the field. She saw out of the corner of her eye, Legs Eleven walking away from the other cheerleaders and knew she was making her way towards Arnold. She threw Helga a smile, but Helga ignored her. Annie rolled her eyes.

Eventually the boys were finishing up and Torvald waved to her. She waved back, and all the guys on the field looked her way, then started clapping Torvald on the back and smiling and laughing. Torvald waved his fist at them, but they laughed and continued to heckle him about a girl waiting for him after practice.

"Torvald, Helga? Really?" she heard a sweet musical voice call down.

Helga sighed and ignored her. God she hated girls who talked sweetly like they were little five year olds or something.

"I spose it makes sense," she heard the girl continue. "I mean, two of the most feared people in school . . ."

She blocked the girls annoying voice out and decided to check her bag to make sure everything was in there that she would need.

"Well, I gotta go change, Arnold," she heard Annie say, then watched as she bounced off. God how Helga wanted the girl to fall flat on her face and break her perfect little nose.

Arnold came down to sit next to her.

"So what are you two doing?" he asked.

"Stuff," she said vaguely, looking away from him.

"Let me guess? Your helping him out and in return he's going to pretend to be your boyfriend to make me jealous?" Arnold asked. Helga turned to him and smiled.

"If we were nine years old," she said. "But we're not."

"Whatever Helga," he said. "Just don't hurt him like you did Stinky, okay?"

"Pfft, Stinky asked for it," she said.

"No one asks to be hit, Helga," he scolded.

"They do when they grab your boob and slobber all over you in an attempt at a kiss," she snapped. "Two sides to the story, Arnold, but let's listen to the drunk cry-baby, eh?"

Arnold opened his mouth to say something when he heard Helga's name get called out. He looked over to see Torvald making his way over to them. Helga stood up, wiping her hands over the back of her skirt to get any dirt and dust off. As she bent down to pick up her bag, another gust of wind went past and blew her skirt up a bit more, giving Arnold another glance.

"You looking up her skirt or something?" Torvald's voice asked. Helga straightened up, pink, and placed her hand on the back of her skirt and whirled around to stare at him shocked.

"What?" he asked, stunned. Torvald laughed, and smiled as Arnold heard his girlfriend coming over.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Teasing your boy about coping a perve up Helga's skirt," Torvald said. Helga turned red, Arnold went white, and Annie was just stunned.

"What are you doing looking up other girls skirts?" she demanded.

"I didn't. I was looking that way, and she bent over and there was wind and -"

He stopped when he saw everyone was laughing at his bumbling attempt to defend himself, and realised they were hassling him.

"Sure, the wind made you do it," Helga said.

"Come on, Hel-girl, let's get going, leave the kids to it," he said, holding a hand out for her. Arnold and Annie both watched a bit stunned as Helga took it and Torvald helped her down. When they got to the bottom, Torvald put his arm around her shoulders and looked back at them, smirking.

"What the fuck did I just see?" Annie asked.

Arnold couldn't say anything, but he was thinking the same thing.


	2. Chapter 2

Please be patient. I am trying to write Mom instead of Mum. It's not so bad in this fandom, but in a few others I have been hassled about that, and my "spelling mistakes", which aren't spelling mistakes to me. I'm aware that a majority of readers are American, but I'm not, so some words will be spelt different out of habit, not lack of editing.

…..

…..

…..

Helga was resisting a orgasm. She loved Torvald's car. It was a 1967 Chevrolet Impala. Getting in she noted that the doors didn't even make a noise. Inside the only modifications she could see was the stereo, which had been updated to take an ipod.

"Wow," Helga said, sliding in, shivers going through her body. "Where'd you get this?"

"I work part time at a garage," he explained. "Fixed this up for some old guy. He carked it a week later, but left it to me in his will."

"Just like that?" Helga asked, shocked.

Torvald shrugged.

"Do you know why?" she asked.

"Did a lot of work to her," he said, running his hand over the dashboard lovingly. "And I also helped him around his house a bit. He was old, you know? He didn't have anyone else."

Helga stared at this big bear of a guy, sitting there lovingly caressing his cars dashboard, talking about helping out some old guy. What the heck? This wasn't the same guy everyone saw at school. Helga looked at her hands and smiled. She wasn't a sentimental person, but she thought that it was so sweet what he had been doing.

"So this is my baby," he said, smiling to her.

"Well, she's beautiful," she told him, smiling. "But she's not going to help you get your grades up, so let's get going."

He sighed, and started the car. Helga couldn't stop smiling like an idiot. What was going on with her?

….

….

Helga shifted a little nervously on the couch. Torvald was sitting next to her, going over some notes she had written for him. But Torvald wasn't the one making her nervous.

It was his mother.

"Are you sure you wouldn't like a drink dear?" she asked for the millionth time.

"You know what? That would be nice," Helga said, smiling. "I'm starting to feel a bit parched." That part was true. She was getting thirsty, though she felt it was nerves more than anything else. She watched as his mother excitedly left the room to get her a drink.

"I'll have one too, Mom!" Torvald called out.

"You have arms and legs," she told him, setting a drink down in front of Helga.

Helga snorted while trying not to laugh.

"It's not often Torvald brings friends home," she told Helga, smiling. "He usually goes places with them."

Torvald got up and went in the kitchen to get himself a Yahoo, leaving Helga and his mom too it. He sighed as he took the top off the bottle. Talk about luck. Helga was much sought after by guys, even amongst the seniors. In the locker room the guys were asking how he'd done it. She had the label "Iron Maiden", due to her love of metal and lack of interest in boys. And that strong, steely attitude she held. Though he was finding out she wasn't all that hard. She laughed when she thought something was funny, and she was patient, something he would never have guessed about her.

He found he was actually enjoying her company.

'_How would you know?_' his brain demanded. '_You've only spent a few hours together! And she's four years younger! Jailbait! Remember that!_'

He choked on his drink at that last thought.

"What the hell?" he asked out loud.

"You alright?" his mom asked, coming in and staring at him oddly.

"Yeah, mom, fine," he said. "Just remembered something I wanted to ask Helga."

"She's a lovely young lady," his mother said, smiling. "A little young though."

He could hear the concern in his mother's voice and see it on her face.

"Don't worry, Mom," he told her.

She stared at him for a long moment, then looked away.

"You better not go giving me a reason, too."

….

….

"Seriously, Pheeb's!" Helga squealed through the phone. "He's an absolute teddy bear!"

"I would never have guessed," Phoebe said. "He sounds like a sweetheart!"

"I know," Helga sighed, falling back on her pillows.

"Um, Helga?" Phoebe asked. "Are you doing this to make Arnold jealous?"

"Arnold?" Helga asked. "What's he got to do with this?"

"Oh, nothing, I just wondered . . ."

"Geez, Phoebe! I'm not nine," she snapped. "First Arnold, then you. What? I'm not allowed to like someone else? Me hanging out with Torvald has absolutely nothing to do with Arnold. Too be honest, after talking to him alone today, he's actually kind of a _dick_."

After that Helga heard a click.

"Phoebe are you still there?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah, why?" Phoebe asked, sounding nervous all of a sudden.

"Because I heard a click," Helga said. "Was someone else listening in on our conversation?"

"What? Um, no of course-"

"Oh my God! Who was it?" Helga demanded.

Phoebe was quiet, but Helga heard her gulp.

"_Phoebe_," she said threateningly.

"Arnold and Gerald!" Phoebe blurted.

Helga was quiet a moment, before she just hung up. She didn't say anything, not even good-bye. She just hung up.

…..

…..

"She heard you guys hang up," Phoebe told Gerald and Arnold as they walked in.

"I can't believe she called Arnold a dick!" Annie shouted. "Considering her attitude? Geez, pot kettle black. Has she ever heard of that?"

Phoebe didn't say anything, just looked down at her floor. She hadn't wanted to let them listen in, but as soon as Arnold and Gerald knew who was on the line, they had gone to the phone in the kitchen, and Annie to the one in the hallway, to listen in on what she was being told. Annie had been that one to ask the question of whether Helga was just trying to make Arnold jealous.

Annie wasn't stupid. There was a weird tension between Helga and Arnold, and she knew they shared a history. What kind of history, no one would say. Arnold would shrug and say "she was the playground bully," and everyone else would kind of look everywhere but at her.

"You okay, Pheebs?" Arnold asked.

"Of course not! We just _spied_ on her private conversation with her best friend," Gerald said, glaring at Arnold and Annie. "Now Helga's going to think Phoebe was spying on her for you or something."

"I'm sorry, Phoebe," Annie said.

"It's getting late," Phoebe said quietly. "I need to get to bed."

….

….

Helga was on time, but was scowling anyway. Nothing new of course, but her reason was. She couldn't believe Phoebe had betrayed her that way. Getting to her locker she saw Arnold and Annie making out, blocking her way.

"Move," she snapped, finally getting to it.

"Oh, hey Hell-girl," Annie said sweetly.

"Fuck off," she replied, getting out what she needed for her class.

"There was no need-"

"Get fucked Arnold," Helga said, slamming her locker closed, locking it, then walking away without another word or even looking back.

In Economics he gave her a smile, but she didn't smile back.

"Let's be civil at least," he said to her.

"Oh, trust me," she smirked. "I am."

"Alright class, we have a special assignment coming up that I would like you all to take part in," their teacher said.

Everyone watched as the teacher pulled out these big fake pregnant bellies.

"Each female student will receive one of these," the teacher said. "This is going to be done over ten weeks. Each week another "month" will be given to you. You will be given hand outs on care, health and wellbeing of both the foetus and pregnant woman, and on the changes in the body. And boys, don't think you've escaped!"

Helga and Arnold looked at each other uneasily. Whenever it came to dumb assignments like these they always got paired together.

"You will be dealing with the Economic's side of things," she told them all smiling. A groan rose up from the class. "Look, I know this isn't going to be fun, but it's a recent addition."

"Recent addition? You mean the principal is freaking out about all the teen pregnancies!" Rhonda quipped.

"Yeah, pretty much," their teacher said, sighing. Everyone went quiet. "It's a problem. He thinks this will stop the problem. Good heavens, if it did we'd be extinct in no time."

After her little speech she went around with a hat which had boys names in it. Helga felt sick. '_I won't get Arnold, I won't get Arnold, I wont get Arnold._' She reached in when it was her turn.

"Fuck I got Arnold," she said out loud. Her hand flew to her mouth, while the rest of the class laughed at her outburst. Arnold went pink and frowned.

"Gee, thanks Helga," he said. "Didn't realise I was so undesirable."

"Whatever," Helga muttered, flicking the paper on the floor.

"Ms. Pataki, please don't do that," the teacher said. She handed her a weird looking belly belt. "Here you go. Congratulations, your 3 months along!"

Helga rolled her eyes.

"Girls. Please put your baby bellies on," she said told them all, when she got back to the class. The girls did as they were told, and then the teacher came around again with a hat and required every student to take one. Helga reached in and looked. Housewife.

"_Housewife?_" she asked aloud.

"Doctor," Arnold said, looking at his slip of paper.

"Score!" Helga yelled, pumping her fist in the air.

Arnold rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, kitchen for you though," he joked.

Helga stared at him a moment, then asked all serious.

"Can I keep my shoes?"

…..

…..

"So your gonna be pretty busy with him, huh?" Torvald asked.

"Pffft, nothing that can't be done during school hours," Helga said. "More important we get your grades up."

"Not at your expense though," he said, frowning.

"Look, I can handle it, okay?" Helga said. "Now quit worrying about me, and concentrate on yourself."

_Beep beep. Beep beep_.

Helga picked up her phone to see it was Arnold.

-_I__ worked out our budget_ -

Helga, read it, then put it away.

"What was that about?" Torvald asked.

"He's worked out our budget," she told him. "Okay, let's start with basic algebra. You okay with that, right?"

Helga's phone went off again, and she growled. Not even bothering to read the message she switched her phone off.

After an hour, Torvald's mother came in to let them know dinner was ready. She had already invited Helga to stay. Getting up, they stretched then went into the kitchen and ate. His mom made basic meals of veges and meat, though it seemed heavier on the veges, while the meat seemed like more of a side dish. Not that Helga minded, she was just used to it being the other way around in her household. She also only served water with dinner.

"Soda is a treat, not a regular drink," she said. Helga just smiled and continued eating, then thanked her. Torvald went back into the lounge to go over the notes he and had Helga had gotten together. She had the neatest handwriting he had ever seen. It was loopy which make him smile. Instead of just a plain dot, she would put a circle. After a few moments he realised that she hadn't followed him in. going back to the kitchen he saw that she was helping his mom with the dishes. He knew his mom had always wanted a daughter, and he wondered sometimes if that was why she hassled him so much about getting a girlfriend. His mother was telling Helga a story about she met his dad.

Torvald smiled and went back to trying to study. But all he could think about was how well Helga got on with his mom. He had heard stories from the other guys about how hostile things could get between their girlfriends and their moms. How the girlfriend was convinced their mom didn't like her.

He was glad he wasn't going to have to deal with that.

…

…

Getting home, Helga dropped her bag on her bedroom floor, then pulled out her phone and turned it on. The text messages had been getting to her. She was still annoyed at Phoebe, though had gotten past the initial hurt and anger. She knew Phoebe wouldn't have done it on purpose or willingly, even Gerald had told her that in a text. He explained how Arnold and Annie were behind it all. She didn't answer the text, hadn't answered any, not even Arnold's. speaking of Arnold, he had sent her six more texts after the budget one.

-_Where__ are you?_-

-_Did__ you get my text_?-

-_We__ need to go over the budget __together_-

-_Are__ you home yet?_-

-_Can__ you text me?_-

-_Helloooooooo__? You do realise we're sposed to be working on this together, right?_-

She sighed.

-_I__ was with __Torvald_- she text him, then put her phone on her bedside cabinet and left to have a shower. Last week she would have been delighted about being paired up with him. But for some reason she just wasn't excited. Was it because of the encounter on the bleachers? She didn't know. She took her time in the shower, then waxed her legs, underarms and bikini line. Going back to her room she looked at her phone to see she had missed two calls and had three messages.

"Hey, Helga, sorry, but do you think you can come over tomorrow after school?"

"Uh, hey, um, I meant for the project. About you coming over I mean."

-_Tried__ calling but you didn't pick up-_

-_So__ are you going to come over tomorrow?_-

-_Have__ you gone to sleep? You've turned your phone off again, haven't you?_-

She sighed, and answered.

-_No__. I was having a shower. Yes I can come over tomorrow, but Torvald will be with __me_-

…..

…..

Arnold frowned at the last message she sent him. Why was Torvald needing to come? He had nothing to do with the assignment!

-_Sure__, that's __cool_- he text back, lying. It wasn't cool!

Not. At. All.


	3. Chapter 3

Everyone looked when Torvald drove up the next day with Helga in the front seat. Some girls in the senior class looked over enviously. For all he had a bad reputation, there were some girls in the school who were still interested in him. He just always seemed so unapproachable.

"Oh. My. God!" Rhonda cried. "Helga is smiling!"

The group of girls she was holding court for turned to stare. Rhonda and Helga generally ignored each other. They were never particularly close, but didn't hate each other and could be stuck in the same room as each other and survive. Rhonda's issues were actually with Annie, Arnold's boyfriend. Arnold stopped talking to he when she openly critisized Annie over an incident. Helga took Rhonda's side, and Arnold had claimed that Helga and Rhonda was jealous. Rhonda, because Annie was a better person and Helga, though he said it in private to her once, because he was dating Annie not her. At the time it had hurt, but now thinking back on it Helga rolled her eyes. Arnold was always one to be blinded by tits and a pretty face, thinking back on it. She waved to Rhonda with a smile, and Rhonda waved back with a genuine smile of her own.

"Excuse me girls, I just need to text everyone me and Helga have ever known!" Rhonda said, whipping out her phone and taking a picture of Helga and Torvald linking arms and smiling, then sending it out in a mass text.

…

…

"Whoa!" Gerald said. "Helga smiling?"

"Where?" Phoebe asked, grabbing his phone. "Oh my gosh, she looks so happy!" she squealed, delighted for her friend.

Arnold looked over her shoulder to see when a pxt arrived from Rhonda with the very same picture. Arnold stared at it, first shocked, then frowned. Helga's hair was loose down her back, her bow gone, a big smile plasted on her face as she looked up at Torvald smiling.

"What's wrong?" Annie asked, walking up to them. "A bunch of people a gasping and talking about Helga smiling."

"With Torvald!" Phoebe cried. "Of all people."

Annie smirked.

"Yeah, pity it's all faked, eh Arnold?" she asked her boyfriend, wrapping an arm around his waist. He snapped his phone shut and smiled at her.

"Yeah," he said.

"It's so sad, using someone to make someone else jealous," Annie said. "Expecially someone who has a girlfriend. Someone should teach her a lesson about toying with people's hearts."

Gerald and Phoebe looked at each other, then gave weak smiles.

"We better be going," Gerald said. "Later Arnold."

It wasn't until they disappeared that Arnold realised that he and Gerald hadn't done their secret handshake.

"Come on, Arnold," Annie said. "Gym!"

….

….

The first thing Arnold noticed at lunch time that day was Torvald, sitting at his table, talking to his best friend about sports. Helga was sitting there of course, talking to Phoebe and laughing. Rhonda was sitting at the next table leaning over and talking to Helga too, which of course meant that her entourage had followed her over. When he and Annie reached the table there was a space opposite each other, but not next to each other.

"We can go sit somewhere else," she suggested, looking at first Helga, then at Rhonda. Helga ignored her, and Rhonda regarded her coldly. No love lost.

"No," he said harshly, glaring at Torvald's back. What? First Helga, now Phoebe and Gerald? No way!

"But-" Annie started, but Arnold just walked over and took the seat next to Helga, leaving Annie to sit between him and Phoebe. She huffed, and blew her fringe off her forehead and took a seat. Looking over she saw her fellow cheerleaders getting up and coming to her "rescue", seeing that she was in the "snake pit", the snakes being Rhonda and co. Their head snapped at Eugene and Sheena and two of their other friends to "move it." Then they took over.

"Hey, Annie," said Carrie, the captain, smiling. "How's it going?"

The air between the tables began to crackle. Rhonda and her group were staring down Annie and her group. Neither side was going to show weakness.

"Wow, is it suddenly cold in here, or is it just me?" Torvald asked. "Maybe we should go sit in the sun?"

"Yeah," Helga said. "I need a bit of vitamin K."

"If you don't mind, I'll join you!" Phoebe said. She grabbed her lunch as well, and started to walk away. Gerald stood up.

"Where are you going?" Arnold asked.

"With my girlfriend," he told him shrugging.

"Your just leaving me?" he asked, shocked.

"Yeah. didn't think you'd mind," Gerald said.

"My best friend ditching me for his girlfriend and her bitchy friend and I'm not supposed to mind?" Arnold demanded. Everyone on all sides gasped.

Gerlad stood there for a moment thinking. Should he?

"You ditch me for your girlfriend and her bitchy friends all the time," he said shrugging. Rhonda burst out laughing, while Annie and her friends were outraged. "In case you hadn't figured it out Arnold, Phoebe doesn't like Annie. And neither do I."

Arnold's jaw dropped as Gerald walked away. Rhonda and her group just snickered and laughed then finally moved away. But for Arnold it was like someone had placed red glass in front of him. He had never been so angry. Ever! He stood up and started to follow after Gerald.

"Arnold stop, forget him for now," Annie said grabbing his arm. But Arnold shrugged her off.

"Stay out of it," he snapped at her and walked outside. He saw where they were sitting and reached them as Gerald was settling down in his seat.

"What did Annie ever do to you?" he demanded. "Bro's first, you said."

"Hmmm, what did Annie do to me?" he asked, stroking his chin. "Hmm . . . Well, she insults my girlfriend, for starters."

"When has she ever done that?" he asked.

"Just the other day I heard her putting Phoebe down to her cronies, calling her four eyes, and one of her skank friends saying I could do better than, and I quote "some four-eyed nerd". your girlfriend laughed and said "I'll see what I can do"."

Arnold frowned. He hadn't heard her say mean things about Phoebe before.

"And that dirty trick she and you pulled the other night, listening in on Phoebe and Helga's conversation about Torvald," Gerald reminded him. "You've been pissy ever since Helga gushed that Torvald was a big teddy bear and you were a dick."

Helga went bright red, and Torvald hid a smile. She looked back to see Arnold standing there looking stunned.

"Since you've started dating that bitch in there you've become a right a-hole, man," Gerald said. "And dishonest as all hell. And don't pull the whole "Bro's before Hoes" shit on me man. Your pussy-whipped by her. How many times have you ditched me for her? I even cancelled plans with Phoebe one day to hang out with you on your request, only for you to not even show up or call me to let me know you weren't coming."

Helga looked over at Phoebe, who was looking down at the table. How horrible for her! And to then have to hang around with the girl, have her over at her house, knowing what she was saying behind her back. It made Helga so angry.

Arnold said nothing, just stood there staring at Gerald.

"Sort your shit out, Arnold, and then we'll talk," Gerald said, sitting down. "And muzzle your bitch while your at it."

….

….

"I'm so sorry Gerald," Phoebe said woefully. "You and Arnold have been friends forever-"

"So have you and him. And he still chose his girlfriend."

"Good luck to him," Helga said. She turned and rested a hand on Torvald's arm. "I'll meet you after practice okay?"

"Sure thing," he said, leaning in and giving her a kiss on her cheek. Then he walked off. Helga felt her heart rate pick up. And a smile form on her face. She placed a hand to the spot where he kissed her cheek. Then she remembered she was supposed to go to Arnold's after school for their project.

This wasn't going to work.

…

…

Helga had chosen study hall for last period. It was her way to wind down at the end of the day at the end of the week. She sighed going over a plan for Torvald. He was smart, just not about the right things. He seemed to know a lot of seemingly useless trivia, some of which was pretty weird and wacky, but it wasn't going to help him get into College. She needed to find a way to make it fun or something so the lessons would stick.

Then there was the whole Arnold issue. She really didn't want to go to his place today. She wasn't sure she could face him without punching him in the face or something. She got up from her chair and walked over to the fiction section. She felt like some brainless drival to read. Her brain was hurting. While looking through the young adult section she heard crying and someone obviously trying to calm the person down.

"So he didn't say why he broke up with you?" one voice asked. It sounded vaguely familiar

Sniffle "No, he just said 'I cant see you anymore. Your not the person I thought you were," the other girl said. Annie. It sounded like Annie.

"Oh, Annie, I am so, so, sorry," said another voice.

Helga moved away as Annie continued to sob to her friends.

So Football Head had broken up with her, huh? Sitting down at her spot at the table she looked down to see what she had picked up. Sweet Valley High. She sighed, and opened to the first page and started to read.

"Helga?" Arnolds voice asked.

"Yeah?" she said, not even looking up.

"Are you reading a Sweet Valley High book?" he asked.

"Yes, Arnold, I am. It's a free country, I can read whatever I like," she snapped, glaring at him.

"Are you still coming over after school?"

Helga was quiet a moment.

"I don't know," she answered. "Have you sorted things out with Gerald?"

"I was going to work on that tonight," he said, taking a seat.

"Your girlfriend, or should I say ex-girlfriend is around the corner bawling her eyes out," Helga told him.

"Uh, yeah. I broke up with her," he said, looking down at the table.

"Yeah, I figured that much out," Helga said, putting the book down. "How about you just give me a photocopy of the budgets and I will look them over and let you know what I think?"

"Helga, there's more to all this than just budgets," he told her frowning. "Budgets are only half of it. I need to see the other side of this assignment, too."

"Great, I'll photocopy it all for you," she said, picking up her book and going back to reading.

"Helga," Arnold started.

"Let's just make this easy on us both, okay?" she said. "I have to help Torvald this afternoon with some applications and stuff. I don't have time to run around playing mommies and daddies with you."

Arnold stared at her hard.

"Anything else?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said. "Stop being a bitch."

"I'll take it into consideration."

…..

…..

Helga sat down and pulled out a book, planning to read while Torvald finished practice. She saw the cheerleaders working on cheers, but ignored them. Then she noticed them making their way over to her. She sighed and put her book away.

"Are you guys really going to do the cliché bitchy cheerleading routine?" Helga said. "Because I know a couple of cheerleaders from another school, and they're perfectly normal."

"Who do you think you are?" one of the senior girls asked.

"I'm Helga Pataki. And I know I'm Helga Pataki. I don't just think it," she said, crossing her arms and leaning forward.

"I just don't understand what Torvald sees in a little girl like you," she said, looking at her nails.

Helga rolled her eyes.

"More than you, obviously," she said smiling.

"Your so pathetic, using him to make Arnold jealous," Annie said snarkily.

"Oh my God! How many times do I have to tell you people? I'm not doing this to make Arnold jealous!" she yelled. She saw Arnold coming up behind the girls and took the opportunity to really put Annie on the spot. "And you keep your mouth shut about Phoebe. She's a hundred times better than all of you, and Gerald couldn't do better, because there's no one better than Phoebe!"

"Yeah right. Phoebe's nothing. Gerald should be dating someone higher up the school food chain. Like Misty," Annie said, pointing to a shy looking girl, whose eyes went wide, and face went red. She looked at Helga apologetically then down at the ground.

Poor girl is obviously way in over her head, Helga thought to herself.

"Phoebe is boring. She's a nerd, and for God's sake, has she never heard of contacts?" Annie said, laughing. "And she's dumpy."

At that the rest of the girls laughed. Helga looked over to see Arnold's face turning purple. Instead of saying anything he turned and walked away. Helga felt a bit dismayed by that. Did he really not care?

"What's going on here?" the Cheerleaders coach called out to them. They all turned to stare at her. "Get your butts down here! You girls aren't good enough to be slacking off! Hurry up! Four laps!"

Helga smirked at them when they looked back at her.

"I'll say!" one of the football guys yelled from the field, which made the rest laugh.

Carrie went red, and glared at Helga.

"You heard coach Wittenberg and the team. You guys suck, so you better go practice," Helga said.

"This isn't over," Carrie threatened.

…..

…..

Torvald watched as the group of cheerleaders walked up to Helga and started talking to her.

"A bitchier group of girls you will never see," said one of his team mates. "Especially since that Carrie girl took over from Connie and Maria. They were a reasonable bunch, but then they left, and in comes this girl, and man oh man."

Torvald agreed. There had been some kind of drama, and Connie and Maria had quit the squad. Carrie had taken over, relationships started to break up, and the group turned crazy. The girl in charge had a real attitude problem, and no guys would go near her, for all she was a gorgeous girl. She had already tried trashing one guys reputation by claiming he tried to rape her after he rejected her advances. She had trashed her ex-boyfriend by saying he had a small penis and other nasty things. And all because he found a new girlfriend who shrugged and told people "He's perfect for me. Not everyone wants to fuck a horse." So amongst the guys she had a bad reputation. No one would come near her. And if she couldn't have a boyfriend, she seemed hell bent on making sure other girls, wether on her squad or not, wouldn't.

"Helga can hold her own," he said quietly, watching the scene unfold. They watched as the Coach walked over to them and started yelling at them to get back to practising.

"I'll say!" another of his team mates called out. They had a bit of a laugh. Since this Carrie girl had taken over, then squad had gone downhill a bit. Connie and Maria had them to a point where they were going to competitions. This girl couldn't even get a routine together for practice. The boys wondered how long it would take Mrs Wittenburg to demote the girl, if not drop her completely. They'd overheard the woman moaning to her husband, their coach the other day about how if they put as much effort and energy into cheerleading as they did into drama, they'd be at Nationals.

"Just keep the drama queens away from my boys," Coach Wittenberg had said.

"Your such an insensitive jerk!" and so a fight ensued. The boys moved away because they knew where it would it head, and hearing to teachers making out was beyond gross. Especially because they were so old!

"Hit the showers boys!" their coach called out. They turned a bit shocked, but saw that he was looking over to where the cheerleaders were. His wife was really having a go at them all.

The boys didn't need to be asked twice though, and trudged off to get dressed, while their coach started towards where his wife was. Serves them right.

…..

…..

"I was thinking we could go to a movie!" Helga said excitedly.

"Sure thing, when?" Torvald asked.

"Tonight? We could grab some grub then go see that new horror comedy!" she said, grabbing his hand

"Sure," he said, smiling down at her. "But don't you need to work on an assignment with Arnold?"

"Nope. I just need to drop some photocopies of stuff off to him, and we're sweet," she said, leaning into him. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Up ahead he saw Arnold and Gerald sitting on the stoop to the Sunset Arms, talking. Gerald saw them first, and waved. Arnold glared and sulked. Helga waved back and started to pull out her folder and shuffle through papers.

"No car?" Arnold asked.

"Nope," Helga said, handing him the papers. "We decided on a walk instead."

Arnold took the papers and dropped them on the stairs.

"Thanks," he muttered.

"No problems. See ya Gerald, bye Arnold," Helga said. She stretched her arm out in front of her. "To the movies!"

….

….


End file.
